Power Within You
by Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley
Summary: -AU- "Why are you doing this? You have the power to save the world." She scoffed, "Why should I? What in this world is good? There's nothing but ruin and destruction." He nodded, "Yeah, but instead of causing more of it, you can stop it." -Rated T to be safe, more information inside, and Standard Disclaimer.-


A/N: I have WAY too many ideas for stories that I think I'm going to explode. I know by writing this that I'm taking on the responsibility of another story, But I really didn't want this idea to go to waste, so here you go. Thank You and Please Review!

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**Summary: "Why are you doing this? You have the power to save the world." She scoffed, "Why should I? What in this world is good? There's nothing but ruin and destruction." He nodded, "Yeah, but instead of causing more of it, you can stop it." **

So for more info...

This is AU, being as though the Earth is seriously messed up. You will get more explanation in the actual story. Because of this, however, will add to character traits being altered or gone or new.

This is set in 2013, though it is Ninja Storm.

This does not tie into any other story I have written. It will not feature those characters. It will feature a new character named Liberty Cage.

Lothor is still in play, but there is another villain named Lord Cardeous.

The real question is... Will Liberty save the world, or will in burn down in flames?

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Standing upon a cliff overlooking the ocean was Liberty Cage. There wasn't much left of what they used to call an ocean, with all the trash, toxic waste, and creatures so vile you could hurl by just seeing them. She could only barely remember what was once a beautiful thing. She was only five when the Earth began to rot. She couldn't help but wonder what could have caused something so horrid, but she honestly didn't want to know. It would be too horrible for her to stomach. He stomach lurched just thinking about it.

"I should have known you'd be up here." A male voice startled her. She turned to face him, and saw his concerned look, "Are you all right?"

She opened her mouth to answer with a lie, but knew that he would know. She sadly answered, "No, I'm not. Thanks, Tim."

He raised an eyebrow, "Tim? What happened to Tiger?"

"Tim is your name." Liberty muttered, staring at the ground to avoid his gaze.

Tiger smirked, "Timothy _is_ my name, but we've been best friends for years. We've hardly ever called each other by our names, Libby."

Liberty shook her head, "No. You call me Libby, Lib, and Doe all the time. It _is_ my name."

"Not by my records. Your name is Liberty Doe Cage." Tiger smiled, "Plus, I also call you Fawn."

Liberty sighed and turned back to the waste land, "I know."

"What's wrong? Why won't you call me Tiger?" He asked.

Liberty just stared at him and scoffed, "I really can't believe you." She shook her head, "Anyway, he doesn't want me to call you Tiger."

"Reese?" Tiger asked.

Liberty nodded, "Yeah." She looked down at the ground again, trying to hold in tears that threatened to spill out onto her face.

Tiger looked down, "How is he doing?" He asked softly.

She took a deep breath, "Stable." She snorted, "I can't believe I was so stupid. Running off like that. It almost got him killed."

"What happened anyway? And, this probably isn't the right time, but why does your brother hate me so much?" Tiger asked.

Liberty gave him a thoughtful look, "You don't know either of those things?" He shook his head, "Well, Reese just doesn't want guys to get close to me. He's a good big brother." She looked back at the ground.

"Thinking about your parents?" Tiger asked.

She nodded, "That's why I'm so grateful for Reese. After they abandoned us... he could have gone to college, made something of his life, but he took care of me. That was only a few years ago, too."

"Three, to be exact." Tiger stated, "I remember that day like it was yesterday. You were about to turn 16 and I already was. I had never seen you so broken. Until a few days ago."

She nodded, "So, I got angry because he wasn't treating me like an adult, so I left. Some guys jumped me, and Reese had followed me. He stepped in and pushed me aside to keep me safe. You know what happened next."

***Flashback***

_"I can't believe this! Reese, I'm going to go. Tiger will come with me." Liberty reasoned. __Reese shook his head so much that his shaggy black hair fell in front of his eyes. Liberty brushed it out of his face, and he frowned. "Look, you may be 22, but you're my brother and I like seeing your eyes." He pushed her hands away and let the hair fall back into his green eyes._

_"Stop changing the subject, Libby. You aren't going to a club." Reese shook his head even more._

_Liberty frowned and glared, "I hate you! God!" She yelled._

_Reese, however, wasn't phased, "See, you're too childish. You don't really hate me." _

_"Yeah, I do. I wish you just let Social Services take me when I was 15!" Liberty yelled, knowing it would hurt her brother._

_Reese felt a pang of hurt, but didn't let it show. He didn't even respond. Liberty, however, was fuming, "I'm leaving!" She turned around, but her brother grabbed her by the arm. "Let me go!" She cried, ripping her arm out of his grip, running away. She could hear him calling after her and then running. She turned into an alley and tried to find a place to hide, when she felt someone grip her arm. At first she thought it was Reese, but she soon realized that the grip was too hard and hostile to be her brother's. _

_She froze as she heard a gruff male voice in her ear, "Now, what's a little girl walking all alone for?"_

_"Yeah, in those clothes too." Another voice laughed in her ear. She had been wearing the clothes she was going to wear to a club. _

_"How... sexy." A large pair of hands wrapped around her waist and the first thing that came to her mind was: **rape**. She longed to call out for Reese, but didn't want him to get hurt. _

_As the hands started to make their way to the front of her skirt, and go in, she cried out, "Reese! Help!" She heard approaching footsteps and then she was thrown into a fence. She had tears forming in her eyelids and knew that she really was childish. She saw Reese get punched a few times and thrown into the same fence, "Reese?" She asked, getting up and helping him up with her. _

_"Libby, you okay?" He asked. She nodded and they both smiled. Suddenly his expression turned into one of pure horror as they watched one of the men running toward them. What Liberty didn't notice, is that he was holding a knife. He pushed her away._

_"Hey!" She cried, then saw the man 'hit' her brother in the stomach and saw the look on her brother's face. This wasn't a hit. The look of pure agony in his eyes proved it. The man took the bloodied knife out of Reese and quickly plunged it into the middle of his chest. Liberty saw the knife this time and quickly called 911, but it quickly hung up as soon as they answered. They would trace the cell phone. _

_"Ricky! She called the cops!" One of the three yelled to the knife wielder._

_"Fuck! You couldn't have told me sooner, John?" He yelled back, pulling the knife out of Reese, "I could have only stabbed the kid once if you told me that." He looked to Liberty, "You would have gotten what's coming to you too, girl."_

_"Ricky, what are we going to do with Paul?" John asked._

_"Shit." Ricky looked at his friend who was unconscious on the concrete. "Get him and we need to get out of here." They grabbed Paul and ran away as quickly as possible._

_Liberty threw herself forward, grabbing at her brother's half conscious form, "Reese?" She asked, tears running freely down her face. "You're going to be okay. I promise."_

_He laughed and she could hear the blood gurgling up in the back of his throat, "Please. You'll be okay. " Liberty assured him, "The ambulance is coming. You'll be okay."_

_As the ambulance came, she hopped into the back with them and hoped for the best, but her brother had lost consciousness and she could see the paramedics looking at her and then back to Reese worriedly._

_At the hospital, Liberty sat in the waiting room, soon seeing Tiger run in, "Liberty!" He ran up to her and engulfed her in a hug, "Are you okay? What happened?"_

_"They stabbed him. Twice." Liberty said through tears, trying to calm herself down._

_"Who stabbed who?" Tiger asked._

_"I don't know know. A gang member stabbed him." Liberty shook her head. She didn't want to tell Tiger the details, or their names. Ricky, John, and Paul._

_"Who? Reese?" He asked, praying that it wasn't Reese, knowing how close Liberty was to her brother._

_She nodded and Tiger mentally cursed himself. _

_"Miss Cage?" A doctor walked in._

_Liberty immediately stood, Tiger right next to her, "I'm Liberty Cage. Reese's sister. Is he going to be okay?"_

_"Please, come with me to my office." He gestured to Tiger, "Who are you?"_

_"Timothy Smith. You can call me Tiger." He smiled._

_The doctor looked ready to roll his eyes, but probably bet against it, "Please stay here." Was all he said._

_"No." Liberty shook her head, "He's practically family. I can't do it without him." _

_The doctor sighed, "Fine, come along, Tiger. I'm Doctor Alexander by the way." He shook Liberty's hand as they made their way into his office and sat down. "Now, Liberty, your brother is very lucky. He is alive," Liberty smiled widely, but it quickly dissipated as Doctor Alexander continued, "However, due to loss of blood and lack of consciousness, he is in a coma in critical condition. If he survives tonight, he will most likely live."_

***End of Flashback***

She looked down below at the ocean again. She saw people walking into the cavern down below. She looked at Tiger and then at her backpack.

"Do me a favor?" She asked, a smile playing at her lips.

Tiger nodded, "Why not?"

"I'm going to go down there for a second. Can you watch my stuff?" Liberty asked.

Tiger sighed, "Okay, but you owe me."

She shrugged and ran to the edge of the cliff, and jumped. Tiger's jaw dropped as he carefully ran up to the edge of the cliff and stared at her down below. She had landed gracefully on a rock and he stared at her in amazement.

She looked up at him and sighed, "Watch my stuff, not me!" She called.

Tiger shook his head to snap out of his daze, "Right, right. Sorry." He went back and sat on the ground next to her stuff.

Liberty stood and looked into the cavern before taking a few steps into it. Being near the ocean, it was humid and wet, yet the air was cold. She touched the walls of the cavern, recognizing some of the marks on the walls. She winced and pulled her hand away when something on the wall cut her. As blood began to seep from the wound, she began to wipe it away, but quickly stopped when she heard voices.

"Stop!" A male voice cried, "Just, put it down."

She continued to listen as their were more and more voices, until she heard a hostile voice. It wasn't the worst, she had heard worse, but it still sent shivers down her spine. Then something he said shocked her.

"What a sight. The Thunder _Rangers_ crying for their mommy." He laughed. _Rangers? As in Power Rangers?_ Liberty thought. She peered in further, trying to see them without them seeing her, but life was a two-way street and they would definitely notice her.

"Wait." He stopped, looking over in her direction, "You know her."

"Who?" They asked.

Liberty suddenly recognized him. Lothor. "Hmm.. maybe not." He seemed interested. He stalked over and roughly pulled her into view. He threw her to the ground in front of the rangers.

"Lothor." She growled, standing quickly and brushing off her clothes.

"Liberty." He smiled, "How... delightful. How's Lo..."

She pinned him to the wall faster than anyone could react. He merely laughed. "Still strong, hmm? I'll have to give your master credit."

"You won't be able to get near him." Liberty growled.

"I doubt that. Now," He pushed her away, "Let me do what I came here to do." He shot a blast, which one of them came forward and blocked. One of them grabbed her and pushed her behind them. He shouted, "I wouldn't trust her!" As the blast reflected off what Liberty recognized as the Gem Of Souls and hit Lothor, causing him to disappear.

"Liberty Cage." A guinea pig stated. It had taken down it's protective ball and stared at her, "Where have you been?"

Liberty shrugged, "Blue Bay Harbor, the place I've lived all my life."

"How are you? How's your family."

"Crappy." Liberty muttered, "I mean, you know, my parents are bastards and my brother is in the hospital, so I think they're fine." She rolled her eyes.

"In what situation do you have the right to refer to your parents as such?" It asked.

"When they abandon me, I think I have every right to do so." She answered.

"Sensei, you know her?" One asked.

It nodded, "Yes, Shane. This is Liberty Cage."

"How do you know her?" Another asked.

Sensei sighed, "She was my best student, until she suddenly was gone one day, and I never seen her since. Until now. She left before you three arrived at the academy." He gestured to Shane, the boy who spoke, and the only other girl.

"Well, any student from the Wind Ninja Academy, is a friend of mine. I'm Shane." Shane told her.

"Dustin." The boy who spoke said.

"Tori." The girl stated.

Liberty looked at the other two guys and they mimicked her look almost perfectly.

The shorter of the two, however, decided to speak, "I'm Blake, and this is my brother, Hunter." He gestured to the taller male standing next to her. She found this interesting. They were brothers, however, looked nothing alike and would never be known like that for sure just seeing them walk down the street. She said nothing of the matter, however, guessing that they were probably adopted, knowing about the whole process.

"Nice to meet all of you." Liberty smiled.

"What did he mean when he said that we shouldn't trust you." Tori asked, looking at her wearily.

"Lothor and I have been enemies for a while now. Why else would he say it?" Liberty half-lied. She and Lothor had been enemies for a while, but that's not why he said it.

"And what about, 'your master'?" Shane asked, eyeing her defensively.

Liberty had no idea what to say. These were the rangers, and she couldn't tell them this. "Well?" Shane's hostile voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked down and up at him without moving her head up. She could see and sense them getting hostile and tense. She got ready and dashed out of the cavern, hearing them running after her.

"Tiger!" She yelled. The rangers watched her as she jumped up, but got caught by this 'Tiger' person. He was tall and had a muscular build. He had a fair complexion, blond hair, and hazel eyes. Liberty, however, had black hair and blue eyes, a fair complexion and was tall for a girl at 5'9. They quickly ran, Liberty grabbing her bag and Tiger's arm, dragging him away with her.

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A/N: What'd you think? Please, Please, Please Review! Thanks!


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